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Padres-Rockies Preview

May 30, 2009 - 5:30 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

San Diego (24-23) at Colorado (18-28), 8:10 p.m. EDT

Jim Tracy wants to take a deliberate approach to getting Colorado out of its rut. Success will come much quicker than expected if the Rockies continue to perform as well as they did in the new manager's debut.

After Tracy got a strong performance from his team in his first game after taking over for the fired Clint Hurdle, the Rockies look to again shut down the San Diego Padres in the middle game of their series Saturday night.

Tracy was named manager for the remainder of the season Friday after Colorado (19-28) parted ways with Hurdle, who guided the team since taking over for Buddy Bell early into the 2002 campaign.

After the Rockies' incredulous trip to the World Series in 2007, where they were swept by Boston, they were 24 games under .500 with Hurdle.

Tracy - a former manager with the Dodgers and Pirates - inherits a team that is last in the NL West, but insists he won't make dramatic changes.

"We're not going to sit here and pretend like what we're doing is OK because we've dug a huge hole for ourselves," he said. "And you don't throw all of the dirt back in the hole all at once. You take it step by step."

Tracy, though, is off to a good start, getting a strong pitching performance from Jason Marquis in a 3-0 win on Friday. The Padres (24-24) entered the series with 11 wins in their last 12 games, totaling 29 runs over the last four contests.

It was the first win in four games for the Rockies, who expect to be held more accountable under Tracy.

"You want a guy looking over the whole team that is demanding and expects a lot from his players," shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said.

Strong starting pitching would certainly help Tracy's transition. Rockies starters had an 8.44 ERA in three games prior to Friday.

Colorado will now give the ball to Jason Hammel (1-3, 4.10 ERA), who ended a personal three-game losing streak in his last outing. He yielded one run and six hits in six innings of a 3-1 victory over Detroit on Sunday.

The right-hander has not received a decision in one start and one relief appearance against the Padres, posting a 6.52 ERA.

San Diego will counter with Josh Geer (1-1, 4.91), who earned a win in his last start, giving up one run and five hits while striking out a career-high seven in 6 2-3 innings of a 3-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. The right-hander was 0-1 with a 10.38 ERA in his previous two outings.

Geer had an excellent outing versus the Rockies on May 5, surrendering one run and five hits in eight innings of a 2-1, 10-inning victory. He's 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA in three career starts against Colorado.

San Diego will try to give Geer some support after getting shut out for the fourth time this season.

Kevin Kouzmanoff went 0 for 4 for the Padres after driving in seven in his previous four games. The third baseman also committed his first error of the season, allowing two runs to score.

"Kuz has saved more runs than he's cost us," San Diego pitcher Chris Young said.